UPDATE 1-BioMerieux blames austerity for sales target cut

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) – French in-vitro diagnostics company BioMerieux (BIOX.PA) cut its 2010 sales growth target to 6 percent from 7 percent on Thursday partly due to healthcare budget cuts in Western Europe as austerity measures take hold.

BioMerieux, which supplies systems used to diagnose infectious diseases and analyse samples, said it was sticking to its 2010 operating margin target of 17-18 percent.

In addition to healthcare budget cuts, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel also blamed the end of the H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic and the low incidence of seasonal flu for the target cut.

The company, which has a market value of 3.5 billion euros ($4.47 billion), said on Thursday that net sales for the first half of 2010 rose 6 percent year-on-year to 651 million euros.

Although growth was flat in Western Europe in the first half, with laboratories sharply cutting back on spending, regions such as the Middle East, Africa and Asia boosted sales.

BioMerieux has been expanding its innovation and international development through bolt-on acquisitions in China and partnerships with companies like Philips Electronics (PHG.AS) to develop fully automated handheld diagnostic tests for hospital use.

The company bought a 10 percent stake in U.S. human genomics company Knome in April. It signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) in May to develop a novel molecular test for cancer. ($1=.7838 Euro) (Reporting by Lionel Laurent; Editing by James Regan)

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Factbox: Vaccines: the Holy Grail of AIDS research

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – A major international conference on AIDS starts in Vienna on July 18, when thousands of scientists, health workers, activists, and government officials will gather to discuss the latest advances against the disease.

There are many drugs to treat HIV and prevention and measures have been deployed try to stop its spread, but so far there is no vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

However, this year’s meeting comes as optimism among scientists about the prospect of developing vaccine is at its highest for a decade.

Here are some facts about the search for an AIDS vaccine, and some of the recent developments in the field:

* The AIDS virus is difficult to fight in part because it attacks immune system cells and in part because it is constantly mutating, making it a constantly moving target

* Researchers have been looking for parts of the virus that do not mutate so they can design vaccines that will protect against these constantly changing versions.

* In July 2010, researchers in the United States discovered antibodies that can protect against a wide range of AIDS viruses and said they may be able to use them to design a vaccine.

* In September 2009, researchers reported their biggest success yet with a vaccine that appeared to slow the rate of infection by about 30 percent in Thai volunteers, but the researchers have since described the effect as “weak” and “modest.” The vaccine is a combination of Sanofi-Aventis ALVAC canary pox vaccine and the failed HIV vaccine AIDSVAX, made by VaxGen and owned by a non-profit group called Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.

* Also in September 2009, U.S. scientists said they had found two antibodies against HIV, called PG9 and PG16, which are known as broad neutralizing antibodies and can block the ability of a relatively large number of HIV variants to infect cells.

* There are currently around 100 clinical trials of potential AIDS vaccines going on around the world, but many of them are in the very earliest stages.

* Even a vaccine that is not 100 percent effective or is not given to 100 percent of at-risk populations could have significant benefits. According to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a vaccine that is 50 percent effective and given to just 30 percent of the population could cut the number of new HIV infections in developing countries by 24 percent over 15 years.

* SOURCES: Reuters, IAVI

(Writing by Kate Kelland, editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

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VIVALIS PARTNERS WITH SANOFI PASTEUR FOR THE DISCOVERY OF HUMAN MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AGAINST INFECTIOUS DISEASES

June 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

NANTES, FRANCE, Jun 08 (MARKET WIRE) —
VIVALIS (NYSE Euronext: VLS) announced today the signature with Sanofi
Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group (Euronext: SAN and
NYSE: SNY), of a commercial license and collaboration agreement for the
discovery and development of fully human monoclonal antibodies against
several infectious diseases targets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi Pasteur and its affiliates
acquire exclusive access to the Humalex(R) platform for the discovery of
human monoclonal antibodies targeting several clinically significant
infectious diseases, and will obtain worldwide exclusive development and
commercialization rights for the discovered antibodies. The HUMALEX(R)
platform is a potent technology for the discovery of fully human
monoclonal antibodies produced by activated and immortalized B
lymphocytes isolated from selected human donors. Humalex(R) was developed
by Humalys SAS, a Lyon-based biotechnology company acquired by Vivalis in
January 2010, and is used for the discovery and development of human
monoclonal antibodies for both therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

VIVALIS will receive an upfront payment of 3 million Euros, and
development milestone payments up to 35 million Euros per infectious
disease, as well as royalty payments associated with product sales. In
addition, Sanofi Pasteur will finance collaborative research activities.

“Passive immunization can be a powerful treatment option against
infectious diseases in sometimes life threatening situations. VIVALIS’
Humalex(R) technology allows rapid identification of clinically relevant
fully human antibodies, as well as their cognate antigen. This opens up
new medical solutions to prevent or treat serious infections,” said
Michel de Wilde, senior vice-president research and development at Sanofi
Pasteur. “We are pleased to team up with VIVALIS to discover and develop
new biologicals against infectious diseases for patients worldwide.”

“We are very excited about this collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur only a
few months after the acquisition of Humalys. This is the first major
commercial agreement on the Humalex(R) platform. It also represents a
strong validation of the technology developed by Humalys. In addition,
this agreement also validates the relevancy of our strategy to move up in
the value chain. VIVALIS is today one of a very few companies able to
propose a fully integrated offering from the discovery of fully human
monoclonal antibodies to the production of clinical batches. We are
particularly proud to enter this new domain with a leader that has
already heavily invested in the field”, said Franck Grimaud, CEO, and
Majid Mehtali, CSO, co-managers of VIVALIS and Philippe Guillot-Chene,
Managing Director of Humalys.

Next financial press release:

21 July 2010, after NYSE Euronext market closing: Second quarter 2010
revenues

About VIVALIS (www.vivalis.com)

VIVALIS (NYSE- Euronext: VLS) is a biopharmaceutical company that provides
innovative cell-based solutions to the pharmaceutical industry for the
manufacture of vaccines and proteins, and develops drugs for the
prevention and treatment of viral diseases. VIVALIS’ expertise and
intellectual property are exploited in three main areas:

1. VIVALIS offers research and commercial licenses for its EB66(R) cell
line, derived from duck stem cells, to pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies for the production of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.
VIVALIS receives upfront fees, milestone payments and royalties on its
licensees’ net sales.

2. Through the Humalex(R) platform, VIVALIS proposes customers solutions
for the discovery, development and production of human antibodies. VIVALIS
receives upfront fees, milestone payments and royalties on its licensees’
net sales.

3. The construction of a portfolio of proprietary products in the area of
vaccines and anti-viral molecules (hepatitis C).

Based in Nantes (France), VIVALIS was founded in 1999 by the Grimaud group
(1,500 employees), the second largest group worldwide in animal genetic
selection. VIVALIS has established more than 30 partnerships and licenses
with world leaders in this sector, including Sanofi Pasteur,
GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, CSL, Kaketsuken, Merial, Intervet, SAFC
Biosciences. VIVALIS is a member of the French ATLANPOLE BIOTHERAPIES and
LYONBIOPOLE bioclusters.

+————————-+-+
|VIVALIS | |
+————————-+-+
|Listed on Euronext Paris | |
|- Compartment C of NYSE | |
|Euronext | |
+————————-+-+
|Reuters: VLS.PA – | |
|Bloomberg: VLS FP | |
+————————-+-+
|Included in NYSE | |
|Euronext’s SBF 250, CAC | |
|Small 90 and Next Biotech| |
|indexes | |
+————————-+-+
+————————-+-+

Contacts

VIVALIS
Franck Grimaud, CEO
Email: investors@vivalis.com

NewCap
Financial communications agency
Steve Grobet / Emmanuel Huynh
Tel.: +33 (0) 1 44 71 94 91
Email: vivalis@newcap.fr

This document contains forward-looking statements and comments on the
company’s objectives and strategies. No guarantee can be given as to any
of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements, which are
subject to inherent risks, including the risk factors described in the
company’s document de reference, changes in economic conditions, the
financial markets or the markets in which the company operates.

This information is provided by HUGIN

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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Immunome Named a Top Innovator Winner

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Award Recognizes Cutting Edge Private Companies Driving the Future of Innovation
WYNNEWOOD, Pa.–(Business Wire)–
Immunome, a discovery-stage antibody platform company focused on
life-threatening infectious diseases, is pleased to announce that it has been
selected as a winner of the annual New York Venture Summit Top Innovator award
by youngStartup Ventures. The companies awarded this honor have been identified
as those that play a leading role in innovation for the Technology, Life
Sciences and Clean-tech sectors.

As one of the winners, Tim Pelura, CEO of Immunome, will present the company at
the exclusive 2010 New York Venture Summit on June 17th at The Hotel Penn in New
York City, where a select group of 450 entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate
developers will gather to be the first to meet this next wave of leading edge
companies.

“We are very excited and honored to be in this elite group of youngStartup
Ventures Top Innovators,” said Tim Pelura, president and CEO of Immunome. “Every
day, physicians are seeing more and more patients with life threatening
infections for which they have inadequate or no treatment options. We believe
that if you want to cure a disease, you should start with the immune system of
someone that has already done it. Our technology enables us to capture the
natural curative antibodies of the healthy human immune system for use as
therapies for those patients unable to mount a defense.”

Honoring the Best

To Honor the youngStartup Ventures Top Innovator recipients, youngStartup
Ventures has invited their CEOs and founders to present at The New York Venture
Summit, a forum for the most exciting early stage and emerging growth companies,
and to share their insights on the future of innovation, and the entrepreneurial
journey. Held at The Hotel Penn in New York City, this intimate, invitation-only
conference is the premier venue for today’s promising startups.

For more information on the summit visit:

http://www.youngstartup.com/newyork2010/overview.php

About Immunome

Immunome is a discovery stage biopharmaceutical company that has created a
proprietary Native Human Monoclonal Antibody (N-huMAB) platform. N-huMAbs are in
the exact structures created by nature and possess the natural safety and
protective power of the human immune system. The Immunome method is an optimized
hybridoma method that exclusively produces affinity-matured IgG N-huMAbs. The
method begins with small blood samples obtained from volunteer donors who are
immune to pathogens of interest. B-cells from these donors are converted to
stable hybridoma cells that express full-length N-huMAbs that are specific for
those pathogens. The strength of the Immunome technology is its ability to
capture the innate immune response to infectious diseases and for vaccines. The
Immunome method is intrinsically unbiased, so Immunome is able to obtain
N-huMAbs not accessible by other antibody cloning methods. Because the Immunome
hybridomas express N-huMAbs in their authentic, full-length configurations,
Immunome`s N-huMAbs are suitable for functional testing without modification.
Immunome has captured high affinity, potent N-huMAbs in several therapeutic
classes – infectious disease, neurological illness, and biodefense. Immunome has
focused its internal development efforts on life-threatening infectious
diseases.

www.immunomeinc.com

Immunome
Tim Pelura, 484-476-1396
CEO
tjpelura@immunomeinc.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Genetic variants that increase infectious diseases risk identified

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 20 (ANI): Scientists have identified new genetic variants that increase susceptibility to several infectious diseases including tuberculosis and malaria.

With greater understanding of the role of the gene implicated, researchers from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, Singapore”s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and National University Health System (NUHS) hope that the findings could one day lead to better therapies and vaccines.

Environmental factors such as malnutrition and poor hygiene can account for a large proportion of an individual person”s susceptibility to infectious diseases, but it”s clear that this is not the whole story. Studies of twins and adopted persons indicate that genetics also plays a role.

The team analysed genes from over 8,000 people at clinical sites in Malawi, Kenya, Vietnam, Hong Kong and The Gambia, over a period of 5 years. In particular, they were looking for genetic variants that might contribute to susceptibility to tuberculosis, malaria and serious bacterial infections of the blood, or bacteraemia.

Their findings reveal a striking association with a gene called CISH and increased risk of susceptibility to these infectious diseases.

CISH encodes a protein that is involved in the immune response to infectious diseases. It plays a role in dampening down messaging signals between cells of the immune system.

A panel of five different genetic variants was identified within the CISH gene. Within the population studied, having just one of these variants increased susceptibility to disease by 18 percent compared with somebody who does not have any ”risk” variants.

One variant in particular accounted for most of the genetic association with disease. Functional studies carried out in Singapore showed that blood cells from healthy Chinese volunteers carrying that variant had lower levels of the CISH protein overall than individuals with the normal variant.

This suggests that CISH exerts a significant genetic influence on our immune response.

Dr Chiea C. Khor from A*STAR”s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), who co-led the studies in Singapore, commented: “It”s not clear from our study why having a reduced level of CISH associates with increased susceptibility to multiple infectious diseases, but it does suggest that CISH is a key regulator of the immune system. We hope that our findings will encourage clinical research to better understand the immunological processes that are going on, with a view to identifying targets for therapeutic intervention and the development of better therapies and vaccines.” (ANI)

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Genes that let you live to 100 discovered

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 16 (ANI): The secret to longevity probably lies in having the right ‘suite’ of genes, according to new studies of centenarians and their families.

Scientists have identified the ‘Methuselah’ genes whose carriers have a much-improved chance of living to 100 despite indulging in an unhealthy lifestyle.

The so-called Methuselah genes— named after the biblical patriarch who lived to 969 — protect people against the effects of smoking and bad diet and can also delay the onset of age-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease by up to three decades.

“Long-lived people do not have fewer disease genes or ageing genes. Instead they have other genes that stop those disease genes from being switched on. Longevity is strongly genetic and inherited,” The Times quoted study’s lead author Eline Slagboom of Leiden University, as saying.

The genes are thought to include ADIPOQ, which is found in about 10 percent of young people but in nearly 30 percent of people living past 100.

The CETP gene and the ApoC3 gene are found in 10 percent of young people, but in about 20 percent of centenarians.

The studies show that tiny mutations in the make-up of particular genes can sharply increase a person’s lifespan. Nonetheless, environmental factors such as the decline in infectious diseases are an important factor in the steady rise in the number of centenarians.

Dr David Gems, a longevity researcher at University College London, believes that treatments to slow ageing will become widespread.

“If we know which genes control longevity then we can find out what proteins they make and then target them with drugs. That makes it possible to slow down ageing. We need to reclassify it as a disease rather than as a benign, natural process. Much of the pain and suffering in the world are caused by ageing. If we can find a way to reduce that, then we are morally obliged to take it,” he said. (ANI)

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Cheese boosts seniors” immune systems

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 14 (ANI): Cheese can help preserve and enhance the immune system of the elderly by acting as a carrier for probiotic bacteria, say scientists in Finland.

The research, published in FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology, reveals that daily consumption of probiotic cheese helps to tackle age-related changes in the immune system.

“The increase in the proportion of aged individuals in modern society makes finding innovative ways to thwart the deterioration of the immune system a priority,” said lead author Dr Fandi Ibrahim from the University of Turku in Finland. “The intake of probiotic bacteria has been reported to enhance the immune response through other products and now we have discovered that cheese can be a carrier of the same bacteria.”

Dr Ibrahim”s team believes that the daily intake of probiotic cheese can tackle the age-related deterioration of the immune system known as immunosenescene.

This deterioration means the body is unable to kill tumour cells and reduces the immune response to vaccinations and infections. Infectious diseases, chronic inflammation disorders and cancer are hallmarks of Immunosenescene.

To tackle immunosenescene the team targeted the gastrointestinal tract, which is the main entry for bacteria cells into the body through food and drink and is also the site where 70 percent of vital immunoglobulin cells are created.

The team asked volunteers aged between 72 and 103, all of which lived in the same care home, to eat one slice of either placebo or probiotic Gouda cheese with their breakfast for four weeks. Blood tests where then carried out to discover the effect of probiotic bacteria contained within the cheese on the immune system.

The results revealed a clear enhancement of natural and acquired immunity through the activation of NK blood cells and an increase in phagocytic activity.

“The aim of our study was to see if specific probiotic bacteria in cheese would have immune enhancing effects on healthy older individuals in a nursing home setting,” concluded Ibrahim. “We have demonstrated that the regular intake of probiotic cheese can help to boost the immune system and that including it in a regular diet may help to improve an elderly person”s immune response to external challenges.” (ANI)

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Vaccine response could depend on your sex

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 13 (ANI): Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have claimed that biological differences between the sexes could be a significant predictor of responses to vaccines.

The scientists examined published data from numerous adult and child vaccine trials and found that sex is a fundamental, but often overlooked predictor of vaccine response that could help predict the efficacy of combating infectious disease.

The review is featured in the May 2010 issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

“Sex can affect the frequency and severity of adverse effects of vaccination, including fever, pain and inflammation,” said Sabra Klein, PhD, lead author of the review and an assistant professor at the Bloomberg School”s W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. “This is likely due to the fact that women typically mount stronger immune responses to vaccinations compared to men. In some cases, women need substantially less of a vaccine to mount the same response as men. Pregnancy is also a factor that can alter immune responses to vaccines.” (ANI)

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Infections cause two-thirds of child deaths: Study

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 12 (ANI): According to a new study, preventable infectious diseases cause two-thirds of child deaths.

Published in The Lancet, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF”s Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) assessed data from 193 countries to produce estimates by country, region and the world.

“With less than five years to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4—to reduce child deaths by two-thirds from 1990 levels—it is vital for governments, public health organizations, and donors to have accurate country-level estimates so they can target their efforts effectively,” said lead author Dr. Robert Black, chair of the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“These findings have important implications for national programs,” said UNICEF Chief of Health, Dr. Mickey Chopra. “The persistence of diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, all of which are easily preventable and curable but which nonetheless remain the leading single causes of death worldwide, should spur us to do more to control these diseases.”

The study”s country and regional estimates, however, underscore how global efforts must be targeted to have maximum impact. Malaria, for instance, is responsible for approximately 16 percent of deaths in Africa, but is a comparatively minor disease in the rest of the world. The study did reveal successes in fighting some infectious diseases, such as measles and tetanus—each now only accounts for 1 percent of child deaths worldwide.

Newborn deaths—those within the first month of life—increased as a proportion of all child deaths globally from 37 percent in 2000 to 41 percent in 2008.

The two greatest single causes of death among neonates are pre-term birth complications and birth-related asphyxia.

“These new data make the compelling case that for countries to get on track for Millennium Development Goal 4, they need to scale up low-cost, effective newborn health interventions,” said co-author Dr. Joy Lawn, director of Global Policy and Evidence for Save the Children”s Saving Newborn Lives program. (ANI)

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Vaccine for Meningitis C ‘wears off in early teens’

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 8 (ANI): According to a research done by the Oxford Vaccine Group at Oxford University, three-quarters of children that are vaccinated against Meningitis C lose their protection against the disease by their early teens.

The study of 250 children aged six to 12, presented to a European conference, looked at immunity seven years after the jab was given, reports BBC.

The group tested the children, who had all been vaccinated for protection against Meningitis C, for levels of antibodies against the bacteria in their bloodstream.

It was found that just one-fourth of the children had sufficient levels of the antibodies to give them protection against the disease.

“This study is just the latest to show that the personal protection given by meningitis C vaccines in early childhood doesn”t last forever,” lead researcher Professor Andrew Pollard told the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) meeting in Nice, France

“And several countries have now responded to these findings by introducing teenage boosters, before protection fails in the population,” he added.

“By giving each teenager a booster dose of meningococcal vaccine as they are entering adolescence, we can ensure that they are protected when they most need it,” deputy head of the Health Protection Agency”s Vaccine Evaluation Unit in Manchester, Dr Jamie Findlow said.

“If, as a result of this research, a booster programme is introduced, we would actively encourage the introduction of this,” he added. (ANI)

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Hospital urges simple hand wash to cut infections

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Royal Hobart Hospital is marking Global Hand Hygiene Day by asking its visitors to ensure their hands are clean.

The hospital says hand hygiene is the most effective way to reduce and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, like gastroenteritis and influenza.

Spokeswoman Sue Draycott says it is estimated that each year 1.4 million people worldwide suffer infections caught while in health care.

“In Australia alone there are over 200,000 hospital acquired infections annually, just in acute care hospitals.”

“The majority are preventable if we just performed hand hygiene when we should. In Tasmania we’re talking about over 2,000 a year,” she said.

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More dengue cases in far north Qld

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Four new cases of dengue fever have been diagnosed in far north Queensland.

A resident north of Tully and three people in the town have contracted locally-acquired cases of the disease.

A dengue fever outbreak was declared in Tully in February, when three people were diagnosed with type-two dengue.

Queensland Health says it is likely the most recent cases are linked to the earlier outbreak.

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1976 swine flu immunization might protect against pandemic H1N1 virus

April 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, April 24 (ANI): A new American study has linked 1976 ”swine flu” shot to stronger immune response to 21st century pandemic flu.

Researchers at St. Jude Children”s Research Hospital found that individuals who reported receiving the 1976 vaccine mounted an enhanced immune response against both the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus and a different H1N1 flu strain that circulated during the 2008-09 flu season.

Lead author Jonathan A. McCullers, an associate member of the St. Jude Infectious Diseases Department, said: “Our research shows that while immunity among those vaccinated in 1976 has waned somewhat, they mounted a much stronger immune response against the current pandemic H1N1 strain than others who did not receive the 1976 vaccine.”

McCullers said it is unclear if the response was enough to protect against the 2009 H1N1 virus, but the study points to a lingering benefit.

The findings also raise hope that those vaccinated against the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain might also enjoy a similar long-term advantage.

The study is the first to focus on whether those vaccinated against the 1976 H1N1 strain made antibodies against the 2009 pandemic flu, including antibodies that could block the virus from infecting cells.

The study involved 116 St. Jude employees and spouses age 55 and older.

The group included 46 vaccinated in 1976 against the H1N1 flu virus, known as A/New Jersey/76, which sickened more than 200 military recruits in New Jersey.

That outbreak triggered fears of a flu pandemic and led to a massive government effort to quickly produce and distribute a vaccine.

The current study was conducted in August 2009 before a vaccine was available against the pandemic H1N1 flu strain and before the virus was circulating widely in the Memphis, Tenn., metropolitan area, where study volunteers lived.

Researchers reported that nearly 90 percent of volunteers made antibodies able to recognize a key protein on the surface of both the 2009 pandemic and the 2008-09 H1N1 flu strains.

Those antibodies were present in numbers large enough to meet one federal gauge of vaccine effectiveness.

Nineteen percent of volunteers also produced antibodies that neutralized the 2009 pandemic strain and blocked it from infecting cells.

In comparison, more than 67 percent of volunteers had antibodies that neutralized the 2008-09 seasonal H1N1 strain.

Those vaccinated in 1976 were more likely to make neutralizing antibodies against the new pandemic strain.

More than 17 percent of the 1976-vaccine group made such antibodies in large quantities.

Only about 4 percent of those who had not received the 1976 shot had comparable levels of antibody production.

The difference between the two groups was statistically significant, meaning it was unlikely chance alone explained the result.

The study has been published in the online issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. (ANI)

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Scientists identify new species of human malaria

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, April 20 (ANI): While studying ovale malaria – a form of the disease thought to be caused by a single species of parasite, scientists discovered that the parasite is actually two similar but distinct species which do not reproduce with each other.

Experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Mahidol University, Bangkok joined forces last year in order to share their research after noticing that the single parasite Plasmodium ovale, though visible through a microscope, was not detected by forensic DNA tests designed to identify the species.

“We used DNA technology to compare the parasites from 56 patients with ovale malaria, from across the tropical world,” Dr Colin Sutherland, lead researcher at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said.

“It was a great surprise to find that, not only are these two species completely distinct from each other by every test we carried out, they actually occur in people living side by side in the same African and Asian countries, and even in the same towns and villages.

“We hope to continue our work so we can unravel the mysterious differences between these two newly recognised human pathogens,” Sutherland added.

The research has been published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. (ANI)

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Bruker and KIESTRA Lab Automation Announce Alliance in Microbial Identification by MALDI Biotyper Molecular Fingerprinting and Microbiology Lab Automation

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

VIENNA–(Business Wire)–
Prior to the 20th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Clinical
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases on April 10-13, 2010 in Vienna, Bruker
Daltonics and KIESTRA Lab Automation announce an expanded partnership covering
co-marketing and cross-selling of their respective technologies for microbiology
routine laboratories, as well as a joint research and development program for
interfacing their technologies.

In recent years, Bruker and KIESTRA Lab Automation have worked with a number of
customers applying both technologies in their laboratories. Together with the
Academical Medical Center (Amsterdam), the Jeroen Bosch Hospital (Den Bosch),
Leiden University Medical Center (Leiden) and Streeklab Haarlem (Haarlem), both
companies applied for the prestigious European Research Initiative EUREKA
(www.eureka.be). Typically, EUREKA R&D is lead by industry and is focused on
significant new customer requirements. In March 2010, the participating project
partners ranked at third position of the EUREKA tender for their joint 24/7
Bacteriology Identification & Sensitivity System (BISS) project. In addition to
integration of both technologies, a goal of the BISS project is to enable
unattended 24/7 operation for bacterial identification.

Mr. Jetze Botma, Chief Executive Officer at KIESTRA Lab Automation, stated: “It
is remarkable to see how relatively new players in the microbiology market have
changed the competitive landscape in the last couple of years. The trends of
consolidation of laboratories and of centralizing microbiology laboratory
services will further increase the demand for professional automation solutions.
In addition, an early identification by the MALDI Biotyper in many cases can
already initiate a germ-specific therapy, which leads to a significant increase
in laboratory and hospital efficacy. The effective combination of both
technologies will help to ease the burden on the healthcare system.”

Dr. Wolfgang Pusch, Vice President for Clinical Research Solutions & IVD at
Bruker Daltonics, added: “This strategic partnership with KIESTRA Lab Automation
is an excellent match for Bruker. We are two leading suppliers offering
innovative technologies for the microbiology market, in laboratory automation
and in molecular microbial ID. Each of our technologies alone has been quite
successful already, and in combination they could change the way microbiology is
performed in many routine labs. KIESTRA´s technology brings the same level of
automation into the microbiology lab that was introduced in clinical chemistry
15 years ago. Moreover, the MALDI Biotyper reduces the identification turnaround
time for patient samples significantly. Both technologies integrated together
will help microbiology laboratories to perform their important tasks faster and
better, despite a predicted shortage in experienced laboratory staff.”

About the Bruker MALDI Biotyper

Bruker`s proprietary MALDI Biotyper solution enables molecular identification,
taxonomical classification or dereplication of microorganisms like bacteria,
yeasts and fungi. Classification and identification of microorganisms is
achieved reliably and quickly using proteomic fingerprinting by high-throughput
MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Applications include clinical routine microbial
identification, environmental and pharmaceutical analysis, taxonomical research,
food and consumer product processing and quality control, as well as marine
microbiology. Bruker`s robust MALDI Biotyper method requires minimal sample
preparation efforts and offers low consumables cost per sample. The MALDI
Biotyper is available in a research-use-only version, as well as in an IVD-CE
version according to EU directive EC/98/79 in certain European countries. For
more information, please visit www.maldibiotyper.com.

For more information about Bruker Daltonics and Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:
BRKR), please visit www.bdal.com and www.bruker.com/.

About Kiestra`s MalditofA for Fully Automatic Colony Picking

Bruker`s MALDI-TOF technology is a true revolution within medical bacteriology.
KIESTRA launches a full automatic colony picker, called MalditofA. The automatic
transfer of a colony to the target plate by the MalditofA guarantees that
possible manual mismatches are prevented. In order to enhance susceptibility
testing, the MalditofA also automatically creates the suspension fluid at. e.g.
0.5 McFarland. The MalditofA makes sure laboratories can take advantage to
reduce id-card usage while labor costs are reduced dramatically.

For more information about KIESTRA Lab Automation, please visit www.kiestra.nl.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT OF BRUKER

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical
facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements
contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results
to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to,
risks and uncertainties relating to adverse changes in conditions in the global
economy and volatility in the capital markets, the integration of businesses we
have acquired or may acquire in the future, changing technologies, product
development and market acceptance of our products, the cost and pricing of our
products, manufacturing, competition, dependence on collaborative partners and
key suppliers, capital spending and government funding policies, changes in
governmental regulations, intellectual property rights, litigation, and exposure
to foreign currency fluctuations. These and other factors are identified and
described in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including, without
limitation, our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009,
our most recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our current reports on Form
8-K. We disclaim any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking
statements other than as required by law.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6243451〈=en

MALDI Biotyper Marketing, Bruker Daltonics
Karin Hoffmann, +49-421-2205-2041
kho@bdal.de
or
KIESTRA Lab Automation
Anneke Dalstra, +31-512-510-710
adalstra@kiestra.nl

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Mass vaccinations an overreaction to flu epidemic

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A leading health expert has called for a rethink on mass immunisations against influenza.

Professor Peter Collignon, an expert in infectious diseases from the Australian National University, says the handling of the swine flu response last year is an example of how not to handle an outbreak.

He says the swine flu response last year need not have included mass vaccinations or pandemic plans as the mortality rate was quite low.

He says mass vaccination programs often mean people who do not really need the drugs get them before people in more dire need.

“Because there was a general panic in society, the wrong people got the drugs at the wrong time,” he said.

“We ran the risk of paralysing our health system with people, 99 per cent of whom would have got better by themselves anyway by just being at home, taking fluids, taking panadol … and keeping away from people so they didn’t spread the infection.”

Professor Collignon says attempting to vaccinate everyone, as happened with the swine flu outbreak in Australia last year, overwhelms the health system.

“We don’t want to necessarily immunise the whole population with a vaccine,” he said.

“We want to target our response to those who are at risk and I think we need to learn from this so that we do this better in the future.

“This has been a problem where there’s been resources allocated for swine flu which probably could have been better, in retrospect, allocated elsewhere.”

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Flu jab link to increased H1N1 risk: study

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

People vaccinated against seasonal flu appear to have been at increased risk of the H1N1 pandemic flu that killed thousands worldwide in 2009, Canadian researchers report.

But some researchers say the study contradicts other findings and suggest the link would be difficult to prove.

The findings appear in the journal PLoS Medicine.

Four studies led by Dr Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver, compared the vaccination history of people with H1N1 influenza to people without evidence of infection.

The studies included approximately 2,700 people with and without H1N1.

The first study “confirmed that the seasonal vaccine provided protection against seasonal influenza, but found it to be associated with an increased risk of approximately 68 per cent for H1N1 disease.”

A further three studies also found an “increased likelihood of H1N1 illness in people who had received the seasonal vaccine compared to those who had not”.

The researchers say these do not reveal a “true cause-and-effect relationship” between seasonal flu vaccination and subsequent H1N1 illness.

The observed association may also be “due to differences in some unidentified factors among the groups being studied,” they said.

Conflicting results

Previous studies, including one by Dr Heath Kelly and Kristina Grant of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, have produced conflicting results.

In an accompanying commentary appearing in PLoS Medicine, Dr Lone Simonsen and Dr Cecile Viboud say it would be “premature to conclude” that seasonal flu vaccinations increased the risk of pandemic illness in 2009.

Dr Ian Barr, Deputy Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Australia agrees.

“It’s not clear in my mind what the real outcome is,” he said. “I would tend towards the neutral.”

According to Dr Barr, previous research on animal models has shown no beneficial or detrimental effect from the seasonal vaccine on H1N1 response.

Growing immunity

Dr Barr says the number of H1N1 infections this year is expected to be lower than in 2009, due to a smaller “reservoir” of people without immunity.

“We have reasonable evidence that people above the age of 50 years have existing immunity,” he said.

“A large number of Australians were infected with the virus, with between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of children exposed.”

The Canadian researchers also note that the World Health Organisation has recommended that H1N1 be included in subsequent seasonal vaccine formulations, which has been included this year in Australia.

The Canadian researchers believe this would provide protection against H1N1 and remove “any risk that might have been due to the seasonal vaccine in 2009, which did not include H1N1″.

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Bacterial nasal spray can help kids with glue ear

March 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 30 (ANI): A bacterial nasal spray can prove effective for children having long-term problems with fluid in the middle ear, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

The study covered 60 children with glue ear, or secretory otitis media (SOM), who were split into three groups.

The first group received a solution containing Streptococcus bacteria, the second a solution with Lactobacillus bacteria, and the third a bacteria-free solution (placebo). These solutions were then sprayed into the children”s noses for ten days.

“In the group given the Streptococcus spray, a third of the children got much better or were cured completely, while only one child given the bacteria-free spray recovered,” says Susann Skovbjerg, a doctoral student at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Bacteriology. “Treatment with Lactobacillus bacteria was less effective.”

A number of different types of bacteria come under the Streptococcus umbrella. The type used in the study is normally found in the mouth and belongs to the viridans group. The researchers have various theories as to why a spray with these bacteria can help children with glue ear.

“One explanation for the marked improvement may be that the spray stimulates the immune system to conquer the long-term inflammation,” says Skovbjerg. (ANI)

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Microbes genetically reprogrammed to ooze oil for renewable biofuel

March 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, March 30 (ANI): In a new study, a team of scientists has genetically reprogrammed photosynthetic microbes to secrete oil, thus bypassing energy and cost barriers that have hampered green biofuel production.

The study was carried out by researcher Xinyao Liu and professor Roy Curtiss at Arizona State University”s Biodesign Institute, US.

The challenges of developing a renewable biofuel source that is competitive with the current scalability and low-cost of petroleum have been daunting.

“The real costs involved in any biofuel production are harvesting the fuel precursors and turning them into fuel,” said Roy Curtiss, director of the Biodesign Institute”s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology and professor in the School of Life Sciences.

“By releasing their precious cargo outside the cell, we have optimized bacterial metabolic engineering to develop a truly green route to biofuel production,” he added.

Photosynthetic microbes called cyanobacteria offer attractive advantages over the use of plants like corn or switchgrass, producing many times the energy yield with energy input from the sun and without the necessity of taking arable cropland out of production.

Lead author Xinyao Liu and Curtiss, applied their expertise in the development of bacterial-based vaccines to genetically optimize cyanobacteria for biofuel production.

In the group”s latest effort, the energy-rich fatty acids were extracted without killing the cells in the process.

Rather than destroying the cyanobacteria, the group has ingeniously reengineered their genetics, producing mutant strains that continuously secrete fatty acids through their cell walls.

The cyanobacteria essentially act like tiny biofuel production facilities.

Liu realized that if cyanobacteria could be cajoled into overproducing fatty acids, their accumulation within the cells would eventually cause these fatty acids to leak out through the cell membrane, through the process of diffusion.

To accomplish this, Liu introduced a specific enzyme, known as thioesterase, into cyanobacteria.

The enzyme is able to uncouple fatty acids from complex carrier proteins, freeing them within the cell where they accumulate, until the cell secretes them.

A second series of modifications enhances the secretion process, by genetically deleting or modifying two key layers of the cellular envelope-known as the S and peptidoglycan layers-allowing fatty acids to more easily escape outside the cell, where their low water solubility causes them to precipitate out of solution, forming a whitish residue on the surface.

Study results show a 3-fold increase in fatty acid yield, after genetic modification of the two membrane layers.

To improve the fatty acid production even further, the group added genes to cause overproduction of fatty acid precursors and removed some cellular pathways that were non-essential to the survival of cyanobacteria.

Such modifications ensure that the microbe”s resources are devoted to basic survival and lipid production. (ANI)

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Surgical masks as effective as respirators in preventing H1N1 spread

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, March 26 (ANI): Surgical masks provide effective protection to health-care workers against H1N1, a new study has found.

Researchers analysed the incidence of H1N1 among health care workers from April through August of 2009 at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore.

A small percentage tested positive for H1N1 during this period. None had cared for any patients with H1N1 or worked in H1N1 screening areas of the emergency room.

In all cases, transmission was believed to have occurred outside of patient care, when health care workers were in contact with roommates, the general public, and other sources.

From June 19 to July 21, health care workers at the hospital wore N95 respirators in the emergency room and an H1N1 isolation area. From July 22 to Aug. 31, surgical masks were used by workers in these areas. The incidence of H1N1 among workers remained low during both periods.

While the study was observational, the findings suggest that surgical masks and respirators did not differ in their effectiveness in preventing hospital staff from acquiring H1N1.

Study author Brenda Sze Peng Ang, MD, of the Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore said: “What is more important than using high-filtration or respirator masks for known or suspected cases is to have a uniform policy, such as using surgical masks, when in close contact with all patients.

“This way, health care workers are protected from getting infected by patients not initially thought to have H1N1.”

The study has appeared in the April 1, 2010 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. (ANI)

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